MERRY CHRISTMAS YALL!~
And thank you for being with me this long .
A couple months passed in peace.
January came with little fanfare. Although the little Kargarok egg began shaking a little.
February brought news of the castle's foundation being finished. Including a new basement level.
March came with the beat of drums as the twins filled the great hall with a triumphant song. The music lasted for hours as the enchanted instruments floated above.
Easter Break was a full two weeks spent in the Lizalfos territory. Slowly it was becoming more inclusive, but it was primarily filled with the Lizard Folk. The stones of the castle town were polished black stones mined from the volcano. Beautiful but a little overwhelming when every stone of the castle and city were black. She asked the Darknuts to bring white stones from their mines to make the houses and other fixtures. The black stones would only be the Walls and guard towers.
In April, Gufuu was bedridden for a week because of the latest potion the Mediwitch of Hogwarts tried. Afterwards she had itchy sides…
May was spent studying for an upcoming test of her Self Study in Potions. An official from the Government came to assess her work and said she was only barely passable.
And in June…
"Did you hear about the Murder Trial?" She overheard some Ravenclaw students whispering a couple tables away in the library.
"Oh yeah, Dumbledore went off to investigate that. Think it'll take a month like the last time?" The other asked.
"Maybe, who knows with him," the first shrugged.
She glanced at the head table, looking over the teachers. One of them looked different but she didn't know which… Then her eyes fell upon Quirrel.
The man had grown more gaunt over the school year. Skin drawing thin against his bones. The smell of something rotten came from him, yet the smell was obscured to her human classmates by that garlic haze. Eyeope mentioned a creature called a Redead. A creature kept alive by dark Magic's for a purpose. Shambling and gaunt, redead were undead that devour the essence of life to keep going. Gufuu felt it an apt comparison.
Around him was a haze of malicious energy… and the colors of Delight…
After breakfast, Gufuu went down to Hagrid's hut. Ever since she obtained the Helmrok egg from him, she had visited him often to let him look over the egg. Seeing the happy Cerberus was a nice bonus.
"Ya Know, ever since ya brought me fluffy back… Dumbledore 'as been askin me fer another animal to guard his n Flamel's secret," Hagrid said as he was feeding Fluffy a nice bowl of meat he prepared.
"His and Flamel's secret?" Gufuu asked, looking up from the miniature storm she wrapped the egg in.
"Ah can't say!" Hagrid said quickly, looking extremely uncomfortable.
Gufuu hummed, "we'll if it's Nickolas Flamel… then that means it's likely one of his alchemical feats," she mused, having studied Flamel during her potions self study, "he and Dumbledore worked on the uses of Dragons Blood together… but that doesn't seem important enough for a guard… would it happen to be the legendary stone of Flamel?" She mused.
"Now ah can't have ya talkin like that! Get out! Ah won't get in trouble with Dumbledore!" Hagrid cried out in alarm, shooing Gufuu out of the hut.
He shut the door in her face…
Then opened it and placed the bird egg in her arms before closing it again.
"Rude," Gufuu huffed, hugging the egg close. Soon though she went back to her dorm room. She got it settled comfortably in a pillow and blanket nest… a miniature storm swirled around the egg…
Then flopped onto her bed.
She rummaged around in her pouch, trying to find that thing that was in it. Neither she nor Majora knew what it was. They just knew it appeared in their pouch the first time they saw the Mirror. That strange artifact… Like usual, the gem kept slipping out of Gufuu's fingers every time she tried to hold it. It felt warm to the touch…
Eventually she gave up and sighed, snuggling into her blankets… "why can't I touch it," she huffed.
In the middle of the night Majora woke her from her feeding. "LITTLE ONE!!!" He cried out in alarm, dragging her to her own mind quickly.
"I was just getting to the good part," Gufuu whined, having just turned the dreamer she was playing with into their greatest fear. It was a really fun nightmare…
"Someone broke your lock," Majora said point blank. A demon's locks were not something one idly trifles with. Especially a Boss Door type lock. The type she placed over the room Fluffy once occupied. Not even Dumbledore could get into the room despite how often he tried.
"My… Lock?" Gufuu asked, her mind latching onto that. A sense of wrongness overcame her. Like someone had taken something from her that was very dear. Sure she didn't do much with the space besides tend to the vines in the room below and practice her elemental Magic's in the room itself… but that one thought… the idea that anyone would invade on her territory…
Soon she left her mind and ran for the third floor Corridor. She didn't even think to use any magic to accelerate her travel. The demon merely ran the whole way. Stairs seemed to fly under her feet. Going so fast, the tired Miniblins lost her as she ran up the stairs.
Chains of magic lay on the ground, fallen and broken. Segments of splintered wood lay scattered all over the place. The edge of the door looked like deep claws cut into it where the hinges once were. Gufuu examined the door, wondering just what manner of creature created this carnage.
"Revert," she incanted, pointing her wand at the wood that once was the door…
But nothing happened.
"Revert!" She said with a bit more force. But still the Door didn't repair itself. The pieces lay still scattered about.
A deep growl, with puffs of smoke came from her lips. The little demon stalked into the room and jumped down the hatch. It too was equally destroyed.
Usually when she jumped down the vines would catch her… but the smell of charred plants met her nose. She flailed a little, soon using wind magic to slow down her descent. The Devil's Snare was almost entirely burned away. A few remnants were along the edges of the room, reaching out for her.
Now… while she had claimed the former room of Fluffy and tended to the Devil's Snare… Gufuu didn't go any deeper. There was no reason to.
Soooo…
The hallway below wasn't a surprise to her…
But the room full of keys? Beautiful keys in a large variety of shapes and materials?
This…
Was surprising.
And honestly brilliant. She promised to herself to work this out later and design her own version for her own dungeons…
Maybe her little Helmroc will enjoy it when they hatch? Food for thought.
For now she decided to go to the door, examining it and sending a pulse of magic through it… "hmmm… pretty simple spell… just a little," she shifted her arm to her demonic form. Black scales formed in rows from the tips of her fingers up to her shoulder. Then her sharp hooked claws seemed to grow out from behind where her nails were. Sliding her pinky between the door and the frame she slid it up until she came to the bolt. A tingling sensation went up her arm, but it was small and harmless. Like having your limb fall asleep and wake up to pins and needles. Soon she brought the bolt up and the door swung open.
Wandering down the hallway an odd smell came to her nose. Like that time the Quitache tent was set on fire by that lightning storm a couple weeks back. The putrid odor of flaming sweaty clothes hung around the area still all these weeks later. The smell grew stronger as she kept going down the path…
Before long she came across the sight of a checkered floor. Black and white tiles, each a yard square. Eight tiles wide and eight tiles long. Huh… this looked familiar…
Taking a step onto the board, giant well crafted chess pieces barred her way. A set of pawns With a long blade in each hand used the blades to wall her off from going across.
The board was too well lit to make it across the 6 yards between the black and white pieces by shadow walking…
Then she looked up…
The roof was completely covered stalactites… that looked plenty shadowy~
She fell to the ground in a puddle of darkness.
A realm of black and white meant her eyes and senses. The board almost entirely white between the chess pieces. Each piece was riddled with black. Flowing over to a wall she went up and wrapped around a stalactite. Jumping between each stalactite shadow she eventually got to the other end of the board. Some were more risky than others with how large the gaps between black were in the realm of shadows. Eventually though…
She finally slid down the wall on the other side.
The fowl smell intensified as she went further in, finding a large room with a mutilated troll within. Gufuu gagged, but soon slipped into the shadows so she couldn't smell it anymore.
Then came a room that she couldn't help but marvel at. This room had one walkway to get across, about 2 yards wide and half a quidditch field across. Half way across the room was a round platform with a Dias in the middle. The walls were a sphere with so many glowing dots it looked like the night sky.
Walking up to the Dias, the demon couldn't help but marvel at the control panel for the room. Just touching it could make it rotate. It was extremely delicate…
Majora shook her out of the trance, remarking about the Compulsion charm on the Dias. A spell that would keep a person enraptured for ages if their will was too weak and caught unaware.
The source of the fowl odor finally made itself known in the next room.
Laying on the floor was a truly massive lump of green skinned rotting flesh. The beast was about the same side and shape as a Troll… yet it's flesh was tended from its bone and lay around it half charred. Rended from its bones with blasting hexes and cutting charms… the fury of the caster evident from the severity of the destroyed beast.
Gufuu gagged, edging along the wall to get around it. Majora comforting her…
Warmth flowed from her pouch as something within resonated with the magic in the air.
In the final chamber she was met with…
Professor Quirrel standing before the Sheikah mirror. Rage bubbled and roiled around his form. A deep wrath that was oh so familiar to Majora. Gufuu's pocket grew burning hot this close to the source of wrath. He looked upon the mirror deep in thought, muttering soft plans of how to extract something from the mirror…
"Stupid fool… you are not alone," a voice hissed from… him?
The walking corpse of a man turned, eyes hollow and devoid of life. "little Gufuu…" he muttered, "what brings you here little girl?"
"Stop talking to her you fool… use her… Make her show you where it is," the haunting voice hissed again.
Gufuu took a tentative step back, eyes wide. Wrath… this… this thing was radiating wrath. Deep and endless… his head was shrouded in a black miasma sparking with purple and red energy. Something Gufuu had never before seen.
"GET OUT OF THERE!" Majora's voice rang out in her mind.
Yet before the young demon could run, or turn to shadows, she was wrapped in ropes of light! Struggle all she might, Gufuu couldn't escape. Majora raged and pleaded use of her body once more…
"Unveil me servant," the eerie voice demanded of Quirrel, "I am strong enough… for this."
His arms jerked as he moved. Like a puppet on strings, Quirrel raised his hands, slowly unwrapping the turban. From its folds fell cloves of garlic and bundles of various potent smelling Herbs. When the turban finally fell away, a horrifying sight met the Demon.
The thing was a grotesque face. That of a man no more. It was scarred and grey, flakes of dry skin falling from it. Sunken in sockets holding golden snake like eyes. Its nose had fallen away some time ago, leaving two marred holes in its place. Its scarred lips were peeled back, revealing many rows of crooked teeth. A scar marred the left cheek in the shape of a lightning bolt.
"So… this is the form of my foe?" it asked with a croaky dark voice, "she who slew me… born to be my greatest foe?"
Gufuu squirmed, but stilled at the creature's words, "born to be your foe?"
"Aaah… you don't know of your fate then?" it croaked in satisfaction.
The young demon looked away from him… "I know of one fate I am bound…" she said hesitantly.
"Then you know… The prophecy the old fool shall enact… even should it kill him~" Quirrel's growth said, "for twixt our lives are bound. Neither shall die while the other lives. So long as you shall live, I am immortal!~" he laughed loudly, a victorious laugh. For truly he had won in his mind. "It is only by your hand that I can die… and so to you of me. Isn't it ironic? A self proclaimed demon is the hero in their narrative. I who wish to bring about a new age in the Wizarding World. Showing those filthy Muggles their place beneath our boot. Proving once and for all that blood is true supremacy!"
"All humans bleed the same," Gufuu piped up.
"What was that?" the beast growled.
"All you humans bleed crimson red. All humans are born with one heart and one brain. Born on this earth with magic in their souls no matter how strong or dim. Why would blood matter?" she asked.
The eerie growth growled angrily, "what would you know you flighty monster?!" he growled, kicking Gufuu down. From her hair was dislodged her faithful companion Eyeope. The little bat clung to her back and made its way down to her bindings… chewing through them until they were thin enough to break with Gufuu's own strength. She elected not to break them just yet…
"I know about your secret," she bluffed with a small cackle, "you're too weak to live on your own aren't you? Is that why you're after the stone?"
He growled and kicked her in the stomach before turning back to the mirror…
Unnoticed by him… Majora was making its move. Gufuu's eyes turned green and her hair spiked outward as he took control… sitting up he broke the bindings…
Cackling, the minor deity stood up. "You've met with a terrible fate haven't you?" he asked with an echoing voice. His voice was that of every child of his realm woven together and talking as one. A grin unnaturally wide plastered on his host's face.
Slowly Quirrel's puppeted body turned back to face his enemy.
"Who are you beast, who wears my enemy's face?" the entity demanded of Majora.
Majora grinned even wider, " oh ho ho!~ its been so long since ive been asked that!~ Oh I go by so many names~ Death, La Muerta, the Grinning Moon, Will-O-Wisps, Friend, Foe, Brother and Sister. But most of all… it is none of your business!~" he giggled, "My name shant be remembered by such a spoilsport! What kind of being would I be if I didn't let my little grandniece have a fun adventure! And you ruined it with all this talk about you and her dying, and your silly little notions of Blood!"
The walking corpse growled, and soon it's possessor cast a spell golden in color but wrapped in an outline of black with red sparks, "CRUSIO!"
Majora rolled out of the ray cackling as he broke the ropes. "You can't catch me!~" he sang as he ran around the room ducking in and out of hiding places. His opponent only grew more angry with every spell that missed.
This was a true delight for Majora! Protecting the innocent. Annoying an adult. Playing games!~
All until he was filled with pain. A Crusio finally landed, and he was wholly unprepared for just how much it would hurt. A pain so deep and vast that even his host was feeling it in their shared mind space. Fire ants biting all over, nails driven into every inch of available skin, falling into glass shards, and the sting of The Fierce Deity's blade all wrapped into one.
"I've caught you, you annoying rat~" the Hate filled being purred. His host took jerking steps closer and closer.
Reaching out it tried to touch Gufuu. To touch Majora's Host… Majora tried to scoot away, to squirm away from its fowl touch.
But…
As soon as the mummified hand touched their body…
It crumbled to dust.
Quirrel screamed in pain as he clutched his stub of a hand.
"Grab her you fool!" The parasite yelled to its host. Complying the corpse tried again to the same result. Turning to dust.
As the pain of the Cruciatus Curse faded, Majora made its move… with both hands it reached out and held the gate filled being's head between his hands.
Just as a popping noise arrived.
The spirit of the possessor flew towards the origin of the popping noise… but Majora didn't have the strength to see what happened…
Okay…
So I wanna explain something for my lovely readers.
The realm of shadows is…
non linear…
To put it lightly…
It's like a world that's 2 dimensional being superimposed on a 3 dimensional world. Black and white, with black being the shadows of the 3 dimensional world and white for the light. A shadow entity can't survive long in the light. Honestly it's a very risky mode of travel when you don't know where the next shadow will be. Hogwarts is a fairly dark place with the ceilings a perfect place to shadow travel.
If you've ever seen the Labyrinth…
Remember the setting where the Goblin King and our little Protagonist were in that weird location with gravity and reality bending around? Stairs and paths that seemed to all have their own gravity?
That is how a Shadow entity goes from shadow to shadow. They jump between the points of gravity, traveling briefly in the light.
And I've got a choice for my lovely readers to make!~
When shall I introduce Volga?
Beginning of Second year, or Beginning of third?
Shadow Link will appear in the other~ so choose wisely!~